For everyone that said “the US doesn’t have a space program any more,” “NASA is dead,” or “Your kid can’t be an astronaut,” here is proof that you were dead wrong. This week Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) became the first US commercial company to deliver cargo to the International Space Station and safely returncargo from space. This mission, dubbed CRS-1, is the first of up to twelve SpaceX Dragon deliveries under a Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA.

“This historic mission signifies the restoration of America’s ability to deliver and return critical space station cargo,” said SpaceX CEO and Chief Technical Officer Elon Musk in a press release. Not only is it a big accomplishment for our emerging commercial space industry, it actually puts us ahead of the rest of the world! Since the retirement of the space shuttle last year, no other space vehicle — from any country — could return significant amounts of cargo from the space station. Dragon brought back 1,673 lbs. of “return cargo” that included the first scientific samples to be returned to Earth in over a year. This is a BIG deal to scientists!

SpaceX Mission Patch for CRS-1 (c) SpaceX

This is SpaceX’s second trip to the ISS, their first being only a demo flight. Orbital Sciences Corp. also has a contract from NASA to deliver supplies, though they have yet to test either their new Antares rocket or Cygnus capsule. Orbital plans to launch their rocket from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on the coast of Virginia sometime in December. (I’ll post details on how to see the launch from the New England area in November.)

The Netherlands is a small country but just like most of its neighboring countries in Europe, it is also a space nation and is duly represented by its space ambassador Astronaut André Kuipers. Kuipers is currently sharing the confined International Space Station with its space roommates, and treats the world to amazing pictures of the Earth, taken as part of his PromISSe mission.

When it comes to astronomical photography, results are often governed by location, location and location. This was certainly the case for Don Pettit, who, like many before him, decided to take long-exposure pictures to capture the trails of stars as their positions relative to the Earth changed. There was one chief difference for Pettit, though: He took the pictures while an astronaut on the International Space Station.

Pettit’s experiment produced a series of amazing pictures, which photographer Alan Rivest then used to assemble a time-lapse video. Not only are the star trails beautiful, but the video also captures auroras and lit-up cities at night, among other things.

If this video isn’t the most beautiful 200 seconds of your day, I’ll be surprised.

Lego teamed up with NASA to launch a Lego version of the International Space Station aboard the real one. Flight engineer Satoshi Furukawa spent two hours building the model in a glove box to keep the pieces from floating around and becoming a potential hazard for the space station.

After assembling the station, Furukawa used it as a model to make educational videos to educate kids about living and working in space. Once the videos were done, the model had to be disassembled and stored to ensure it did not cause any problems. It seems, according to Furukawa, that there is a combustion issue with Lego bricks in space.

The Japanese astronaut also built Lego models of lunar exploration and Mars Rovers and the Hubble Space Telescope, earning him the title “The Lego Guy.” Despite the challenge of dealing with floating pieces and doing the assembly while wearing heavy rubber gloves — according to his crewmates — Satoshi enjoyed building the models.

For more photos and a video of Satoshi with the ISS model check out the article at Collect Space. If you want to build your own International Space Station pickup the Lego Discovery: International Space Station and build it on your kitchen table. Unless you have a glove box to build it in, of course.

Good news! Following many reports over the last few days that the first-ever science fiction film to actually be filmed in space was being kept from release by NASA, there is now word that the space agency has relented and that Apogee of Fear will see the light of day after all.

The eight-minute film was shot by Richard Garriott aboard the International Space Station on his trip there as a paid civilian in 2008. Based on a screenplay written for him by Tracy Hickman (best known as co-creator of the Dragonlance shared universe), Garriott made the film with the assistance of two NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut.

He had hoped to release it along with the documentary he made about following in his astronaut father Owen Garriott’s footsteps (Man on a Mission, which is playing in indie theaters across the country). But NASA put the kibosh on those plans without giving a great many specifics as to reasons, except that it was outside the scope of Garriott’s agreement with them. It seemed as though Apogee of Fear would remain hidden from the public eye.

Now I am pleased to report that things have changed for the better. In response to a query to NASA on the subject, I received the following reply from Bob Jacobs, deputy for communications at NASA:

NASA is working with Richard Garriott to facilitate the video’s release. While the project was not part of his original Space Act agreement with NASA, everyone involved had the best of intentions. We hope to resolve the remaining issues expeditiously, and we appreciate Richard’s cooperation and his ongoing efforts to get people excited about the future of space exploration.

It sounds like NASA is leaving open the possibility of making some edits to the short film, but on the whole it reads like great news to me. The agency certainly seems to understand why it’s important that this kind of thing is released to the public, and the fact that the word “expeditiously” is in there bodes well for that happening soon.

So watch this space: We’ll be sure to let you know if we hear anything else about Apogee of Fear. It may turn out not to be very good, of course — there’s no way to know, really — but its historical importance should make it worth eight minutes of your time regardless.

This is awe-inspiring. Taken from the International Space Station, this time lapse video shows what it’s like flying over the earth from 200 miles up. I love seeing the city lights from above along with the major storm systems generating lightning towards the end. It’s a nice view of the wonders of our planet and a great reminder of the wonderful things our active space program can show us.

From the YouTube description:

A time-lapse taken from the front of the International Space Station as it orbits our planet at night. This movie begins over the Pacific Ocean and continues over North and South America before entering daylight near Antarctica. Visible cities, countries and landmarks include (in order) Vancouver Island, Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles. Phoenix. Multiple cities in Texas, New Mexico and Mexico. Mexico City, the Gulf of Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, El Salvador, Lightning in the Pacific Ocean, Guatemala, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Lake Titicaca, and the Amazon. Also visible is the earth’s ionosphere (thin yellow line), a satellite (55sec) and the stars of our galaxy.

When Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off the pad in Florida — currently targeted for tomorrow (Monday) at 2:34pm EDT — it will be carrying a very special payload. Contrary to what you might think, it won’t be a communications satellite, ISS module or telescope parts. No, the Endeavour will be carrying thirteen Lego sets that will be used aboard the International Space Station later this year as part of Lego’s Bricks in Space program.

The program, driven by the Lego Education unit, will challenge astronauts to build the models and discover how they react in a microgravity environment. Astronauts will also conduct experiments with the models and share results with teachers, students and classrooms via video channels when the program begins in September. Lego Education will also be making a teacher’s guide and worksheets for students available to those wishing to participate in the program. More information is available on the Bricks in Space site. We hope the ISS astronauts don’t drop any bricks — it’s hard enough to find them on the floor, let alone floating around a space station!

When Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off the pad in Florida this Friday, it will be carrying a very special payload. Contrary to what you might think, it won’t be a communications satellite, ISS module or telescope parts. No, the Endeavour will be carrying thirteen Lego sets that will be used aboard the International Space Station later this year as part of Lego’s Bricks in Space program.

The program, driven by the Lego Education unit, will challenge astronauts to build the models and discover how they react in a microgravity environment. Astronauts will also conduct experiments with the models and share results with teachers, students and classrooms via video channels when the program begins in September. Lego Education will also be making a teacher’s guide and worksheets for students available to those wishing to participate in the program. More information is available on the Bricks in Space site. We hope the ISS astronauts don’t drop any bricks — it’s hard enough to find them on the floor, let alone floating around a space station!

Hello all and welcome to this week’s edition of the GeekDad Space Report. There was a single launch on the schedule for last week, the launch of the STSAT-2B satellite on the Naro-1 rocket. Unfortunately, this launch was not successful and the rocket exploded just over 2 minutes after launch.

Tuesday, June 15
Launch Site: Dombarovsky Cosmodrome, Yasny, Russia
Launch Vehicle: Dnepr
Payload: Prisma & Picard
Launch Time: 14:42 GMT
Notes: Mission to launch two satellite payloads using the Dnepr rocket, a modified ICBM. Prisma is actually a pair of satellites that will test formation flying techniques. Picard is a satellite that will observe the the Sun and is named for French astronomer Jean Picard, the namesake of a certain Starfleet Captain.

In many ways, all of the Hubble observations are interesting, but here is a list of some of the standouts in the coming week. A more complete list can be found at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) This Week On HST Website.

Congratulations to the whole team behind the return of the Hayabusa capsule from the asteroid Itokawa. The sample return blazed a trail through the sky on its way to a landing in Australia. Crews have located the tracking beacon for the sample return canister and it should have been recovered by the time you read this article. There is some doubt as to the contents of the canister due to a hiccup during sample collection, however, scientists are hoping to find some useful information in the canister.

Welcome to the GeekDad Space Report for the week of May 24, 2010! We had a busy launch schedule last week with four launches on the schedule but only two of those made it off the pad. The launch of a probe destined to study the atmosphere of Venus and a communications satellite we both successfully launched while the Falcon 9 launch and the launch of a new GPS satellite were both delayed. Both of these launches have been scheduled for the upcoming week and there are no additional launches on the schedule. The Space Shuttle Atlantis, which has been docked with the International Space Station (ISS) has separated from the orbiting platform and is scheduled to return to Earth on Wednesday with a landing at the Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility.

In many ways, all of the Hubble observations are interesting, but here is a list of some of the standouts in the coming week. A more complete list can be found at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) This Week On HST Website.

An interesting note for this week. The instrument used in the last observation listed is one of the Hubble Fine Guidance Sensors (FGS). Normally used to help Hubble lock onto a target field of view for other instrument’s observations, the sensors are also very powerful interferometers and the same precision used to lock Hubble on to targets with an amazing accuracy can also take very precise measurements of other stellar objects.

This is a small list of the overall observations. You may also see some of these observations popping up in other weeks as many observation programs consist of several observations over time.